Le banquet des fraudeurs (1952)

Shortly after the end of the Second World War, something downright revolutionary for the time is happening in a small community in the Dutch-Belgian-German border region: the customs barriers between the Benelux countries are finally to come down! For the town’s mayor, however, this is a double-edged sword, since he is also the owner of a small shoe factory, whose very existence is seriously threatened by this politically driven move. His own son is supposed to set things right. Barely has he taken over the factory’s management when he immediately commissions smugglers to move the entire shoe production across the border into Germany under cover of darkness. There, the smugglers are to sell the untaxed goods at a profit, in the hope that the proceeds will allow the shoe factory’s workers to continue being paid. During these illegal transactions, a German smuggler loses his life. His sister, in turn, falls in love with another smuggler, who thereby gives the young woman a new purpose in life.